Sarah Palin wants to eliminate all energy subsidies, including ethanol

This presidential election cycle, Republicans are increasingly willing to take a tough stand on ethanol subsidies. The latest to stake out a potentially damaging position on the issue, which heavily effects Iowa, is former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.Palin told Real Clear Politics on Tuesday that she opposes all energy subsidies. “I think that all of our energy subsidies need to be relooked at today and eliminated,” Palin said.The possible presidential candidate continued, “we need to make sure that we’re investing and allowing our businesses to invest in reliable energy products right now that aren’t going to necessitate subsidies because, bottom line, we can’t afford it.”Palin’s rationale will likely resonate with...

Read more »

Companies look for power way, way up in the sky

The world's strongest winds race high in the sky, but that doesn't mean they're out of reach as a potentially potent energy source.Flying, swooping and floating turbines are being developed to turn high-altitude winds into electricity.The challenges are huge, but the potential is immense. Scientists estimate the energy in the jet streams is 100 times the amount of power used worldwide annually.Cristina Archer, an atmospheric scientist at the California State University in Chico, said there's "not a doubt anymore" that high-altitude winds will be tapped for power."This can be done, it can work," she said.The question is, when? Some companies project their technology will hit the market by the middle of the...

Read more »

GE’s big bet on natural gas

General Electric Co. (GE) is betting big on natural gas.The $150-billion a year company, whose power plants generate about one-fourth of the world’s electricity,today announced a new natural-gas power plant that it says is more efficient and flexible than any other in the market.By phone from Paris, where the announcement was made, Steve Bolze, president of GE Power & Water, told me:  “This is about transforming the industry over the next five or 10 years.”GE says it invested more than $500 million in the new plant development. It will be manufactured in France and sold first in Europe and Asia, and then later in the U.S.One key selling point of the new plant is its unprecedented flexibility: It can ramp up and down rapidly, and...

Read more »

Japan's Softbank announces solar power plan

Japanese telecom company Softbank is to work with local authorities in a drive towards renewable energy, its president said on Wednesday after announcing the construction of 10 large solar power plants.Since Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami sparked a nuclear emergency, Softbank CEO and president Masayoshi Son, Japan's richest man, has been a high-profile advocate for a shift away from atomic power and toward renewables such as solar, wind and geothermal.Son and local officials from across the country told a joint news conference they would launch a "Natural Energy Council" in early July to promote natural energy power generation."We want to set up the council, considering how we can create initial momentum toward expanding natural energy...

Read more »

India Balances Development against Emissions

 One of the key challenges facing fast developing economies such as India is how to fuel and sustain economic growth while simultaneously reducing emissions. Like China, India is strongly opposed to setting emission reduction targets, arguing that any constraints would adversely impact economic growth, with this resistance unlikely to weaken before the current first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends in December 2012. But this emission constraint resistance should not be confused with sustainable market development.Since 2004, India has averaged quarterly GDP growth of 8.4 percent, reaching a historical high of 10.1 percent in September of 2006 and a record low of 5.5 percent in December 2004. In the fourth quarter of 2010, GDP...

Read more »